Veterinary diets for dogs

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Veterinary Diets For Dogs

Hypoallergenic Dog Food and Prescription Veterinary Diets

A veterinary diet is not premium dog food with a better label. It is a therapeutic food built to manage one specific problem, and the thing that makes it work is usually something taken out rather than something added. Animeal stocks 131 of them: hypoallergenic, gastrointestinal, hepatic, renal, urinary, joint, diabetic and weight formulas from Royal Canin, Vet Life by Farmina, Vivaldis, Vet Pro, Calibra and more. We are a licensed veterinary pharmacy, which is why this page explains before it sells.

Read This Before You Choose a Diet

A veterinary diet fed to the wrong dog can cause harm. That is not a disclaimer, it is how these foods work.

  • A hepatic diet is low in protein and restricted in copper. It is right for a dog with liver disease. Fed long term to a healthy dog, or to a growing puppy, it under-feeds protein
  • A renal diet restricts protein and phosphorus. Correct for failing kidneys. Wrong for a healthy adult
  • A urinary diet changes urine pH. There is more than one type of stone, and the diet that dissolves one can encourage another. The stone type must be known first
  • A weight or satiety diet is calorie restricted. Not for a puppy, a pregnant dog or a nursing mother

So get a diagnosis before you buy. These are Rx diets, and the reason vets prescribe rather than recommend them is that the wrong one is not simply useless, it is actively unhelpful. If you have a vet's note, WhatsApp us a photo and we will tell you exactly which bag matches it.

At a Glance

Products 131, with around 103 in stock
Brands Royal Canin, Vet Life by Farmina, Vet Pro by Drools, Vivaldis, Calibra, Mankind Petstar, Avet
Conditions covered Allergy and intolerance, gastrointestinal, hepatic, renal, urinary, joint and mobility, obesity, diabetic, cardiac, recovery
Formats Dry kibble, wet cans, recovery liquid and jelly
Sizes 300g cans up to 12kg bags
Price range ₹99 to ₹14,990

Related: Premium Dog Food · All Dog Food · Skin & Coat Care · Gastro & Digestive Care · Hip & Joint Care · Veterinary Diets for Cats

Which Veterinary Diet Do You Need?

The problem The diet What we stock
Itching, ear infections, paw licking, food reactions Hypoallergenic Royal Canin Hypo and Anallergenic, Vet Life Hypo and UltraHypo, Vivaldis, Vet Pro, Mankind Petstar
Loose stools, vomiting, gastroenteritis, poor gut health Gastrointestinal Royal Canin Gastro, Vet Life Gastro, Vivaldis Gastrointestinal, Vet Pro
Diagnosed liver disease or liver damage Hepatic Royal Canin Hepatic, Vet Life Hepatic, Vivaldis Hepatic
Kidney disease Renal Royal Canin Renal, Vet Life Renal, Vivaldis, Calibra
Bladder stones, crystals, urinary tract infections Urinary Royal Canin Urinary, Vet Pro Urinary Tract
Stiffness, arthritis, hip and joint trouble Joint and mobility Royal Canin Mobility, Vet Life Joint
Overweight, losing condition slowly Obesity and satiety Royal Canin Satiety, Vet Life Obesity, Vivaldis Weight Reduction, Avet, Vet Pro
Diabetes Diabetic Royal Canin Diabetic, Vet Life Diabetic, Calibra Diabetic & Obesity
After surgery or illness, not eating Recovery Royal Canin Recovery Liquid, Vivaldis Recovery, Vet-Pro Recovery Jelly

Hypoallergenic Dog Food: What It Actually Means

This is the biggest reason people land on this page, and it is the one most often misunderstood. A canine hypoallergenic diet does not contain a magic ingredient. In almost every case the allergen is a protein, and the diet works by making that protein unrecognisable to the immune system, or by using one the dog has never met.

You will see the same shelf sold as hypoallergenic, anti allergy, allergen free or allergy free dog food. Those are marketing words for one idea. The only one that means something different is anallergenic, which is a specific Royal Canin formula, not a general term.

The three types, and how they differ

Type How it works On this page
Hydrolysed protein The protein is broken into fragments too small for the immune system to recognise. The standard first choice Royal Canin Hypo, Vet Life Hypo, Vivaldis, Vet Pro, Mankind Petstar
Highly hydrolysed Broken down further still, for dogs that still react on a standard hydrolysed diet Vet Life UltraHypo, Royal Canin Anallergenic
Novel protein Uses a protein the dog has never eaten, so there is nothing to react to yet Look in our regular ranges: fish, duck, venison

Anallergenic is the strongest option we carry and also the most expensive. Start with a standard hydrolysed diet unless your vet has already tried one.

Grain free is not the same as hypoallergenic

This is the most common and most expensive mistake in the category. People searching for grain free dog food for allergies are usually solving the wrong problem.

The proteins dogs most often react to are beef, dairy, chicken, wheat and egg. Notice that four of the five are not grains. Most grain free foods on the market still contain chicken, which means a dog with a chicken allergy reacts to a grain free bag exactly as it did to the last one. Removing grain removes wheat. It does nothing about the protein, which is more often the culprit.

If you have tried grain free and nothing changed, that is not a failure of the theory. You changed the wrong variable.

Allergy or intolerance?

An allergy is an immune reaction to an allergenic protein. It usually shows on the skin: itching, red ears, chewed paws, repeat ear infections. Intolerances are digestive problems with no immune system involved, and they show as loose stools, wind and vomiting. The same hypoallergenic diet often helps both, but if your dog's only symptom is a bad stomach, a gastrointestinal diet may suit better and usually costs less.

How to run a food trial properly

Most food trials fail for one reason: something else got eaten. This is the section worth reading twice.

A diet trial means the hypoallergenic food and nothing else at all, for eight to twelve weeks. Nothing means:

  • No treats. Not one, not from a neighbour, not from the maid, not from a child
  • No table food. A single piece of chapati with ghee resets the trial
  • No dental chews, bully sticks or rawhide
  • No flavoured medicine. This is the one nobody thinks of. A chicken-flavoured heartworm or tick tablet contains chicken protein. So does most flavoured toothpaste and many joint supplements. Ask your vet for unflavoured versions during the trial
  • No shared bowls if you have another dog on a different food. Feed separately

Eight weeks minimum before you judge it. Skin turns over slowly and a dog that has been itching for a year does not stop in a fortnight. Keep a simple note each week of how much scratching you actually see, because memory is unreliable and improvement is gradual.

Then do the part almost nobody does. If your dog improves, go back to the old food for two weeks. If the itching returns, you have proof it was the food. If nothing happens, the food was never the problem and you have saved yourself years of expensive bags.

Before you spend on a hypoallergenic bag, rule out fleas

Flea allergy is more common than food allergy, and far cheaper to rule out. A single flea bite can keep a sensitive dog itching for weeks, and you will not necessarily see the flea. Put your dog on a proper monthly flea and tick product for two months first. If the itching stops, you have solved it for the price of a spot-on instead of a ₹3,000 bag.

Mites, yeast and bacterial skin infections are also more common than food allergy. A vet can check for all three in one visit. We would rather tell you this than sell you the wrong thing twice.

Hypoallergenic puppy food

Puppies get food reactions too, but they also need protein, calcium and calories to grow, and most hypoallergenic diets are formulated for adults. Do not put a growing puppy on an adult therapeutic diet without your vet's say-so. Some hydrolysed diets are approved for growth and some are not. Send us the puppy's age, weight and breed on WhatsApp and we will tell you which of the bags we stock is cleared for growth.

What about specific breeds?

People search for hypoallergenic dog food for Golden Retrievers and for Yorkies more than any other breed, and there is something behind it. Golden Retrievers are prone to atopic skin disease, and small breeds including Yorkies show more sensitive stomachs. But there is no breed-specific hypoallergenic diet and you do not need one. Choose by symptom and by size of dog, not by breed name.

Gastrointestinal and Digestive Diets

A GI diet is highly digestible, lower in fat, and usually carries added fibre and prebiotics. It is what a vet reaches for after gastroenteritis, for chronic gastrointestinal problems and issues such as loose stools, or for a dog whose gut health has never been right.

Wet food earns its place here. A dog that has been vomiting often takes a can when it will not touch kibble, and the extra water helps. We stock Royal Canin Gastro and Vet Life Gastro in both dry and can, and Vivaldis in both.

Worth checking first: chronic loose stools in India are worms as often as they are diet. A course from dewormers costs a fraction of a therapeutic bag. Rule it out before you commit.

Liver and Hepatic Diets

A hepatic diet does three things: it lowers protein so the damaged liver has less ammonia to process, it restricts copper because a struggling liver stores it, and it uses highly digestible energy sources so the dog holds weight while eating less protein.

Liver disease is diagnosed on blood work, not on symptoms. Yellow gums, dark urine, vomiting, weight loss and a swollen belly can all point elsewhere. Do not put a dog on a hepatic diet because it looks unwell. Get the bloods done.

Once diagnosed, the diet does real work and is usually lifelong. We stock Royal Canin Hepatic in 1.5kg, 12kg and cans, Vet Life Hepatic 2kg, and Vivaldis Hepatic 2kg. Liver care, liver support and canine hepatic diets are the same category under different brand names, so compare the specification rather than the word on the bag. Whether the label says liver problems, liver issues or canine liver disease, you are looking at the same shelf.

Joint and Mobility Diets

A joint diet carries glucosamine and chondroitin plus omega-3 fatty acids, at levels a normal food does not reach, and is usually calorie controlled because body weight is the single biggest load on arthritic joints.

Being blunt about this one: for an arthritic dog, losing two kilos does more than any bag of food. The diet helps. Weight loss helps more. If your dog is both stiff and heavy, that is the order of priority.

We stock Royal Canin Mobility and Vet Life Joint. If your dog eats a food it does well on and you only want joint support, a joint supplement added to the current food is often the cheaper route. Ask us and we will compare the two for your dog.

Urinary and Renal Diets

These are two different things and they are easy to confuse. A urinary diet manages bladder stones, crystals and repeat urinary tract infections, each one a UTI, by changing urine pH and mineral content. A renal diet manages kidney disease by restricting protein and phosphorus. A dog with stones does not need a renal diet and a dog in kidney failure does not need a urinary one.

And the stone type matters. Struvite and calcium oxalate stones respond to opposite dietary changes. Your vet will know from the urine test or the stone itself. Buying a urinary diet without that information is a coin flip.

If you are looking for non prescription urinary dog food, note that we do not require you to upload a prescription. What we do is check that what you are buying matches what your dog has, and call you if it does not.

Beyond the diet, the most useful thing for any urinary dog is more water going in. Wet food, water added to kibble, and more bowls around the house.

Weight, Diabetic and Neutered Dogs

Neutering lowers a dog's energy requirement by roughly a quarter while its appetite stays the same, which is why so many dogs gain weight in the year after the operation. Food for sterilized dogs, whether spayed or neutered, is simply lower in calories and higher in protein and fibre, so the dog feels full on less.

You do not always need a special bag. Feeding 20 to 25 percent less of the current food, measured on a kitchen scale rather than a cup, does the same job for free. The specialised food helps when the dog is hungry and miserable on a smaller portion.

For weight loss we stock Royal Canin Satiety, Vet Life Obesity, Vivaldis Weight Reduction and Avet Weight Balance. For diabetes we stock Royal Canin Diabetic, Vet Life Diabetic and Calibra Diabetic & Obesity. A diabetic dog's food must be consistent and timed with insulin. Do not switch diabetic diets without telling the vet who set the insulin dose.

What Veterinary Diets Cost in India

List prices, before the discount that shows at checkout.

Format Roughly
Recovery jelly or liquid ₹99 to ₹867
Wet cans, 300 to 450g ₹500 to ₹700
Dry, 1.2 to 2kg ₹685 to ₹2,990
Dry, 3kg ₹1,449 to ₹4,450
Dry, 6 to 12kg ₹6,570 to ₹14,990

These foods are expensive and there is no way around it. Three things that genuinely reduce the cost:

  • Buy the small bag first. Find out whether your dog will eat it before you commit to 12kg. Refusal is common with hydrolysed diets because the hydrolysis changes the taste
  • Then buy the big bag. A 12kg works out far cheaper per kilo than six 2kg bags, and most of these diets are long term
  • Compare brands on specification, not on name. If you want an affordable hypoallergenic option, the Vivaldis and Vet Pro hydrolysed diets do the same job as the imported brands at a lower price. There is no genuinely cheap therapeutic diet, but there is a real gap between the cheapest and the dearest bag that does the same job. Ask us and we will tell you honestly where the difference is real and where you are paying for the label

Buy Prescription Dog Food from a Licensed Pharmacy

Animeal is the online store of Goodman Pet Chemist, a licensed veterinary pharmacy with four branches across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. On veterinary prescription dog food that licence matters more than anywhere else on our site, because the wrong diet does harm rather than nothing. Our pharmacist checks the diet against the condition before dispatch and calls you if something does not add up.

Send us your vet's note on WhatsApp and we will match it to a bag. Photograph the prescription, tell us your dog's weight, and we will tell you which of the brands we carry matches, and what it costs in each size.

Our Parel branch is open 24 hours, behind KEM Hospital. Also at Mahim, Sewri and Seawoods, Navi Mumbai. Free delivery above ₹499 in Mumbai and same-day delivery across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

Looking for a Diet We Do Not Stock?

Ask us and we will arrange it. Veterinary diets run to dozens of formulas and no shop carries every one. If your vet named a specific brand, formula or bag size that is not listed here, or something is temporarily sold out, tell us.

  • WhatsApp +91 90044 85093 with a photo of the prescription and your dog's weight
  • Email bark@animeal.in
  • Call any branch. Parel is on +91 90041 57093, 24 hours

We will confirm availability, price and timing before you commit. If we cannot get it, we will tell you straight and suggest the closest equivalent, including which brands are genuinely interchangeable and which are not.

When to Stop Reading and Call a Vet

  • Not eating for more than 24 hours, or drinking far more than usual
  • Yellow gums or eyes, dark urine, or a swollen belly. Liver signs, and they need bloods today
  • Straining to urinate, or passing blood. In a male dog a blockage is an emergency within hours
  • Repeated vomiting, or diarrhoea with blood
  • Sudden weight loss on an unchanged diet
  • Skin that is raw, weeping or smells bad. That is infection and diet will not touch it

Frequently Asked Questions

What is hypoallergenic dog food?

Food designed not to trigger an immune reaction. It either uses hydrolysed protein, broken into pieces too small for the immune system to recognise, or a novel protein the dog has never eaten. It is not the same as grain free.

Is grain free dog food good for allergies?

Usually not. The most common food allergens in dogs are beef, dairy, chicken, wheat and egg, so four of the five are not grains. Most grain free foods still contain chicken. Removing grain changes the wrong variable for most allergic dogs.

What is the best hypoallergenic dog food?

The one your dog actually improves on, which you can only find by running a proper trial. Start with a standard hydrolysed diet such as Royal Canin Hypo, Vet Life Hypo, Vivaldis or Vet Pro. Move to a highly hydrolysed diet such as Vet Life UltraHypo or Royal Canin Anallergenic only if the first one fails.

How long does a hypoallergenic diet take to work?

Eight to twelve weeks, with nothing else eaten at all. That includes treats, table food, dental chews and flavoured medicine. One chicken-flavoured tablet can invalidate the whole trial.

Do I need a prescription to buy veterinary dog food?

We do not require you to upload one. We do check that the diet matches the condition before dispatch and will call you if it looks wrong. Get a diagnosis first, because a hepatic, renal or urinary diet fed to the wrong dog is harmful, not just useless.

What is the difference between a urinary diet and a renal diet?

A urinary diet manages bladder stones and crystals by changing urine pH and minerals. A renal diet manages kidney disease by restricting protein and phosphorus. They are not interchangeable, and with stones the stone type has to be known first because struvite and oxalate need opposite approaches.

Is there hypoallergenic puppy food?

Some hydrolysed diets are approved for growth and some are not, and most therapeutic diets are formulated for adults. Do not put a growing puppy on an adult therapeutic diet without your vet's approval. Send us the age, weight and breed and we will tell you which of our bags is cleared for growth.

Do dogs need a special food after being neutered?

Not always. Neutering cuts energy needs by roughly a quarter while appetite stays the same. Feeding 20 to 25 percent less of the current food, measured on a scale, does the same job. A neutered formula helps when the dog is hungry and unhappy on the smaller portion.

Can you order a veterinary diet you do not stock?

Yes. WhatsApp +91 90044 85093 with a photo of the prescription and your dog's weight, or email bark@animeal.in. We will confirm availability, price and timing before you commit, and tell you which brands are genuinely interchangeable.

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